A Pirate's Quarter
by LittleFlyingTiger
Summary: A fight between Arthur and Alfred lands then in a strange world full of powerful people with no way back. Together, they must sail under the flag of the Jolly Roger to find a way home before they are killed in this crazy world. Yet, two years of searching only leaves them with nothing, that is... until they cross paths with a strange rubber boy...
1. Prologue

_Author's Note:__ Yes, you read that correctly. A One Piece and Hetalia crossover. This fic takes place in the One Piece universe, sometime between Fishman Island and Punk Hazard. Do not fear, my anti-yaoi friends (if any) there will not be any romance that goes further than friendships. But on the other hand, I will try to keep this as interesting as possible for everyone. I got this idea a long time ago, but haven't really fleshed out the story until now. I am really excited for this story! I've made several in-depth characters to play as the 'bad guy' roles, and made a sensible plot. Now we just have to see if my patience with my own writing style hold out. _

_Just a warning (since I am well aware of how different these two shows are) If I get ANY negative comments, they will be ignored. If you do not like either show, then please don't read it. Critiques, however, are always welcome and encouraged. I know my writing style isn't the best, so critiques are very much appreciated. If I make a mistake, please don't be afraid to point it out :) I know I am very prone to making mistakes, especially in writing. Other than that, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Prologue

The warm rays of the sun shone down on the New World this glorious morning. It was one of the rare, peaceful days here on these deadly seas. Arthur found himself lost in thought as he gazed out quietly over the water painted beautiful warm colors by the rising sun. This place was certainly not home; it never was and never will be no matter how long he stayed. A gentle breeze blew, ruffling his flag perched on top the mast. The sea gulls swayed daintily in the wind from the air above his ship. Arthur breathed a heavy sigh through his nostrils.

"Hey Captain! What're you up to this fine morning?" A familiar voice called out, forcing Arthur from his trance. He glanced over at his first mate, a young man with strawberry blonde hair and a bright smile to match. His vibrant blue eyes glittered from behind his glasses as he approached his captain. Arthur felt himself smile.

"Not much," he stated in reply. "Just watching the waves while they're calm."

Another breeze blew between the two. This time, it was strong enough to make Arthur's red captain coat flap gently like the flag. His blonde hair brushed gently over his face, grazing lightly at the prominent eye patch over his right eye. With his good eye, he watched his friend. Guilt throbbed in his heart. His smile was so big, and so bright that not even the sun could compare. But Arthur knew all of it was a lie, merely a mask. He knew Alfred was hurting underneath it all. He knew that he wanted to go home more than anything else.

"Say, Al…" said Arthur in a low, heavy tone. At his name, the boy glanced over curiously. "How long has it been now? Two years… Three?"

Alfred's eyes sparkled in the mental pain as he let out a small, half-assed laugh. "Something like that… time really does fly doesn't it?" he sighed.

"And I still haven't found a way back… how pathetic…" Arthur grimaced.

"Don't say that!" Alfred bit back. "We'll find our way home eventually, I know it!"

"Home… yes. Home is our goal. But when we've done all we can already, what else can we do? We might just spend our entire life trying to find that answer. We are mortal in this world after all," Arthur sighed.

"If we made it here, then we have to be able to go back!" Alfred wailed. Arthur knew this much was true, but finding the way home was proving to be more difficult said than done.

It's funny how a simple fight with this bastard landed them in this dreadful place. This world was so full of hatred and greed, though truthfully it wasn't very different from their own. The only thing that separated the two was the superhuman people who occupied this one, those who flew under a jolly roger in search of the great treasure of this world known as the one piece, and the government idiots who tried to run it. They're all crazy, the lot of them.

"Come on," Alfred urged with a gentle nudge. "I wanna hear you say it."

"Say what?" Arthur snorted.

"Tell me we'll go home! If the captain says we will, then I know we'll be able to do it!" Alfred boasted childishly.

Arthur couldn't help but to smile in this situation. "Alright. I'm promise the two of us will return home… together like we always have," he laughed.

Alfred's smile stretched from ear to ear. "Good!"

"Captain!" shouted one of Arthur's crew members from the opposite side of the ship. Arthur whipped his gaze around at the desperateness in his voice as he saw him running around from the bow. "Captain, we have trouble!" he shouted again. Arthur did not know the name of this man, much less anything about him. For all he knew he was someone who decided to sail under his flag. From past experience, Arthur knew a pirate was a pirate no matter which world he existed in, and a pirate cares only about money, not the captain they follow.

"Spit it out sailor. What do you see?" Arthur barked in his direction. The man stopped to catch his breath, panting furiously with his hands on his knees. When he finally looked up again, his eyes were filled his panic. "It's the marines, sir!" he wailed wearily. Arthur felt his blood run cold. "Well why didn't you bloody say so five minutes ago?!" he cursed as he stormed off toward the bow. Alfred was quick to follow.

"It would seem you're pretty famous on these waters!" Alfred teased. However, Arthur saw nothing funny in this situation. "Idiot! If I'm famous then we'll be hunted," he retorted as the two came up on the bow of the ship. Sure enough, there was a marine ship no less than 20 yards away. There was no running from this battle.

"It's so good to see you again… Captain Arthur of the Kirkland Pirates!" a mysterious, nasally man shouted from the marine vessel. Arthur had seen this face before from a previous quarrel, but the marine had been so weak and disgraceful that Arthur had forgotten his name completely. This encounter certainly won't be any different.

"Marine scum… how lovely of you to pay us a visit. But may I ask what a weak marine such as you is doing on this half of the Grand Line?" Arthur challenged.

"Oh, Like you have room to talk!" the Marine Captain roared. "A pirate with a bounty of Ninety Million won't get far in the New World!"

Alfred gazed at Arthur in awe. "Ninety Million?" he breathed. He had never heard of a pirate with a first time bounty so high.

"Tch, what do you want, scum," Arthur scoffed.

The Marine ignored the title given to him and laughed. "Well, seeing as you are a wanted pirate," he began. Arthur narrowed his eyes unhappily. "I'm here to take you and your crew to prison for piracy, obviously."

"It would seem you still haven't learned your lesson," Arthur grumbled lowly.

Things were silent and tense for a few long moments. Marines exchanged unsure glances between each other. "Are the rumors about him really true?" one whispered to another. "I heard he ate a devil fruit and can still swim, he's a monster!" another wailed. "Really? I've never heard of such a thing…"

"All of you shut up!" the captain shouted. All the marines jolted at the anger in his voice. "Do you realize how pathetic you sound?! Catching him will be easy! Just sail the ship over there and grab him!" the captain ordered. The marines snapped to attention and saluted. "Sir!" they barked in unison. However, their little bit of courage was shot down when a ball of fire crashed into the side of their vessel, creating a fairly large hole and rocking the ship so fiercely that some of the men tumbled to the ground. The Marine Captain growled in annoyance as he glared at Arthur. "You! You'll pay for this!" he shouted.

Arthur had a cocky smirk stretched across his face with his palm outstretched toward the ship. "It would seem the last time I beat you senseless wasn't enough," he chuckled. Arthur's fist burst into flames as a ball of fire gathered at his palms once more. "Here… have another!" he shouted. The ball of fire flew across the waters and hit the marine ship again. Alfred put on a lopsided smile. "Nice one!" he complimented. Arthur turned away, losing interest in this fight already. "That bastard has no clue what he's dealing with," he retorted. The desperate cries of the marines echoed like sea gulls from across the waters as they tried to save their burning ship.

"Fire the cannon!"

Arthur's heart skipped a beat as the familiar sound of the explosion rang in his ear. He spun around for a counter attack, but only milliseconds too late. The large cannon ball pierced the deck of the ship directly in front of him, knocking Alfred back a good couple yards and creating a massive hole on the deck. Alfred scrambled to sit up only to find an empty hole where his beloved captain stood only a few brief seconds ago. "Arthur!" he cried out.

The captain'ss maniacal laugh echoed above the noise. Alfred cast a cold, blood-thirsty glare in his direction. "Bastard!" he screeched.

"Now, now… that was too easy," the marine teased. Alfred leapt to his feet, whipping out his shot gun and taking aim at the vessel. However, he did not fire right away. The captain glared at the weapon with a disappointed smirk on his lips. "Go on, shoot me. But don't whine when I give you a bounty," he warned.

"Like I give a shit," Alfred grimaced. "I'm a pirate! You think I care?!" He fired the bullet, but it merely whizzed past the marine's head. However, Alfred never dropped his stance once.

After the initial shock wore off, the captain growled in annoyance. "What a pitiful shot. You call yourself a sniper?" he sneered. Alfred put on a cocky grin. "Who said I was aiming for you?" There was a thick moment of silence. Suddenly, the water below the ship bubbled a bit, and Alfred's grin snapped to a small scowl. The captain looked displeased with this whole situation. His gaze switched oddly between the bubbling water and the boy on the deck before him.

"Well… it would seem he has eaten one of the devil fruits. No matter, he'll be dead soon-"

A Sudden burst erupted from the waves as a massive pillar of water rose to meet the level of the deck. And on top of that pillar was Arthur. Alfred lowered his gun a tad with a prideful laugh. "It was merely a distraction," he stated. Alfred had known from the beginning that Arthur was going to do this. A simple cannon ball wasn't enough to take out his captain. He's been with him far too long to know that much.

"If you think you can kill me that easily, then you have another thing coming you twit!" Arthur murmured darkly. The captain went into a sudden panic. "No, you should have drowned! What the hell kind of person are you?!" he screeched. Arthur leapt onto the deck and crossed his arms in front of his chest as a circle of light appeared below him. "You'll never understand me," he stated before a massive pillar of light shone down on the vessel, completely tearing it to pieces and sending everyone into the ocean in a ball of fire and debris. Arthur quickly kicked the air, using a technique he'd learned recently, leaping off thin air back to his ship. As he landed, Alfred was by his side with an arm extended. Arthur proceeded with a high-five and a smirk.

"Nice work as always. He never saw you coming!" Alfred praised.

Arthur brushed this sopping wet hair behind his ear. "That idiot has no clue on how to fight properly. What a fool," he grumbled in response. Arthur glanced around at the empty deck. "Where were all the men?" he asked. Alfred sighed heavily with a scratch to the back of his head. "Who knows… probably scared to death below deck," he retorted. Arthur clicked his tongue on the back of his teeth. "Pathetic lot…" he grumbled.

"So what are we gonna do about this hole?" Alfred asked as he toyed with a loose plank of wood with his foot. "We'll get her fixed at the next town. A place called Guzen I believe," Arthur replied.

Alfred wore his bright smile again as he glanced ahead into the vast sea. "Guzen, huh?" he said airily. It almost sounded as if he hadn't meant to say that aloud.

"What is it?" Arthur scoffed.

Alfred snapped his attention back to his friend briefly. "Oh, I don't know. I just have a good feeling about this place, you know?" he sighed.

"I feel like we might actually get our answers."

* * *

A little Fun Fact... The title 'A Pirate's Quarter' was taken from this phrase I saw on a 'talk like a pirate' site. The phrase was "Show no Quarter," which literally means to show no mercy. So in this context, A pirate's Quarter means a Pirate's Mercy, which refers to the mercy that Luffy and the gang always show to those they consider friends, and what little mercy they show to any who stand in their way. I hope this makes light of the title a little bit :')

Oh yea, and I will probably be posting pictures of some of the characters I'll be introducing later on my DeviantArt Account (Torra001) Since I made them up myself. Just thought I'd give you all a better glimpse of them in case I stink at explaining them. (I already have Arthur's wanted poster up there somewhere lol.)

Thanks for reading! :D


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Now listen here, Luffy…"

Luffy took a step back as Nami pointed a finger in his face. Her gaze was as cold and heartless as a tiger's only twice as fierce as she gazed into the eyes of her captain. "You are to follow Zoro and I, and do not EVER leave our side, got it?" she warned in a menacing tone. Luffy's brows furrowed irritably. "No way! I wanna go on an adventure!" he rebelled. From behind them, Zoro fell clumsily off the ladder leading off Sunny, and landed with a rather loud thud on the wooden docks protruding from the small town ahead. However, Zoro was ignored as Nami reached out and grabbed Luffy's cheek.

"Oh no you won't! This town is only going to be a stocking trip, do you hear me?! You're lucky we're letting you come along at all!" she barked furiously. Luffy struggled under her grasp as Zoro staggered to his feet.

"Okay! Okay!" Luffy screeched, speech slurred due to his stretched lip. "Let me go!" Nami released his skin, causing it to snap back in place. "Besides," Nami added with a sigh. "Since this town is friendly toward pirates, I can already smell the trouble if we let you run off on your own. Zoro, you still have that paper?"

Zoro grimaced, bringing out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket. Nami left her captain's side and approached Zoro now, glancing at the written list in his hands. "Good. Is this everything?" she asked. Zoro nodded and handed the paper to Nami to be reviewed. "Yea, this is everything the others said they needed."

Nami's eyes scanned briefly over the paper. "Hm… Chopper and Sanji's list shouldn't be too hard. Usopp's is full of junk so we won't bother with his, and I don't believe this town has a shipyard, so finding lumber and nails for Franky might be difficult…" Nami commented. "What kind of pirate town doesn't have a shipyard?" Luffy blurted in slight surprise. Nami folded the paper again, tucking it away neatly in her pocket. "It can't be helped. I guess Guzen doesn't have many shipwrights. Now, let's head into town," she stated as she began to follow the docks toward the town with Luffy and Zoro close behind.

The town of Guzen was small, but still bustling with people, citizens and pirates alike. The town was made up of a series of neatly spaced stone structures, all of which looked similar in color and pattern. A large array of tropical plant species lined the streets, giving the town a very lively feel. In the backdrop, the land rose up with small mountains covered mostly in dense forests, whose lively green only lit up the bright blue sky even more. For it being the first town in the New World, this place certainly was a sight to behold.

"Whoa, this place is a pirate town?" Luffy gaped in awe, looking around at the lively plant life. "Hard to believe, isn't it? This place almost seems too peaceful," Nami retorted in a light laugh. "These people can probably handle their own, that'd be my guess," Zoro grunted, adding his two-cents to the conversation.

"That aside, where should we go first?" Nami asked, changing the subject. Zoro pointed down an alley way, which obviously ended in a dead end. "This way seems best," he stated. Nami began walking in the opposite direction, completely unfazed physically by Zoro's lack of directional (or any) sense. "We'll go this way then," she decided, taking a step off in her direction. Zoro growled angrily to himself. "Hey, are ya blind?! I said this way!" he hissed, stepped toward Nami, who merely glanced back in annoyance. "You're telling me?! You're the one trying to lead us down a dead end!" she shrieked. Zoro gritted his teeth irritably, but argued no further. "Oh, whatever…" he grumbled. He was about to step after Nami, when both of them froze in shock.

Their third voice hadn't spoken for a while, and the longer Nami and Zoro stood in place, the longer they realized that there were only two people in their little group. Where they're idiotic captain had been standing merely seconds ago, was absolutely nothing. Both Nami and Zoro's hearts sunk.

"THAT IDIOT!"

OoOoOo

"Yo! Bar-guy!"

At the indirect title given to him, the bartender stopped cleaning the glasses and turned to the new face taking a seat at his bar. The man knew this rookie's face well, but then again who wouldn't know the face of Monkey D. Luffy when his wanted poster was pretty much everywhere. However, as terrifying as it might be to see such a high-bounty pirate in his bar, the man was not fazed by him at all. He's seen more pirates than he can count, and very rarely does his little bar ever get into trouble with them, surprisingly so.

"Yea? What can I get ya today, kid," the man asked as he set his glass down on the counter and made his way over toward Luffy.

"I want whatever that is that smells good! And gimme a lot of it!" Luffy blurted, mouth already watering in anticipation. The bartender sniffed the air, slightly baffled by such a strange request. "Oh, that smells like our special turkey legs. I'll get that right out," he said, and then he disappeared behind the kitchen doors.

Now alone, Luffy took a look around him. Nothing in particular interested him in this shabby old bar, not even the people around him. He noticed a few eyes watching him with unease, but they didn't bother Luffy one bit.

All of a sudden, the swinging doors to the bar swung open rather violently. Standing inside the doorway was Nami with Zoro close behind. Upon spotting her captain, Nami proceeded to storm up to him, fists clenched in irritation. Luffy turned to see what was happening just in time to be whacked over the head by Nami's fist. His head stretched down from the force, and quickly rebounded back in place. He glared at Nami in bewilderment. "Hey! What was that for?!" he wailed.

"You idiot! Didn't I not tell you 10 minutes ago not to leave our side?!" Nami shrieked, ignoring Luffy's question completely. Luffy adjusted his hat. "But I was hungry! And this place smelled so good!" he stated.

"When are you _not_ hungry?!" Nami hissed, grabbing onto his cheek again. "Come on, where leaving!"

Luffy grabbed onto the bar as Nami pulled onto his rubber cheek. "But I already ordered!" he whined.

"Hey! I'll take a glass of some booze, just whatever's fine," Zoro stated as the Bartender emerged from the kitchen with Luffy's food. "Zoro! Not you too!" Nami growled. The man exchanged glances with both of the new faces before him. "I see you brought your friends along," he stated with a laugh as he set the food down. Luffy ignored him, and began digging into his food as Nami released him in defeat. She took the seat next to Luffy and rested her chin in the palm of her hand irritably.

"Can I get you anything, young lady?" the bartender inquired as he began filling a glass for Zoro. "No, I'm good," Nami sighed in return.

"Pardon me, Barkeep," a new voice sounded from farther down the line of stools, one Nami had not heard since entering this place. The voice was smooth with a thick accent, which immediately drew her attention toward two younger men sitting a few stools down. Upon setting the glass in front of Zoro, the bartender made his way toward these two men. "Hello there, what can I get you boys today?"

"Two ales please, the cheapest you have if you don't mind," the same man said, placing a wrinkled bill on the table. For some reason, Nami found it difficult to look away from these men. Something about them was not right, but not in a bad way. The one who had been speaking seemed a little older than the other. He had medium-length, light blonde hair that went down to his jaw line. He wore a tattered red captain's cloak over his shoulders, which was decorated with glittering gold buckles and buttons. Under that, he wore a simple white dress shirt with a tie and some tan pants which were tucked into a pair of black leather boots. But the part of him that really caught Nami's attention was his face. Aside from his ridiculously thick eyebrows, the man's face was covered in scars and stitches, and over his right eye was an eye patch.

The other younger man looked a little different. His hair was a tad darker, and his bangs hung more over his eyes than the other, not to mention he had a stubborn cowlick sticking straight up from the center of his hairline. Over his eyes sat a pair of thinly-rimmed glasses which brought out the unusual blue color of his pupils. He wore a similar white dress shirt with a black vest over top. His pants were a dark brown, much like his steel-toed boots. And hanging from his neck was a simple leather cowboy hat.

The longer Nami watched them, the more she felt like they didn't belong here. It was a strange feeling alright, because it wasn't a threatening feeling at all. Only when the older man's gaze locked onto her did she realize she had been staring, and she quickly looked away in embarrassment. Out of the corner of her eye, she could just make out the blue gaze of the other man fall upon her. "Dude..." she heard him murmur quietly to his friend. His voice was a little nasally, and it lacked the strange accent that the other man had. "I know…" the other man grunted. Nami knew they were referring to her staring.

"So, what brings a couple of newbie's like yourselves to this part of the Grand Line?" the bartender asked, breaking the tension between them. He placed the two glasses before them and took the bill off the counter. "We were trying to find our way home, but we kinda ran into some marine's and wrecked our ride," the younger man replied with an embarrassed laugh.

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but there's not a shipyard on this island," the bartender replied, returning to his previous duties of cleaning the glasses. "Oh, bugger…" the older pirate cursed. "Do you live around here somewhere?" the bartender asked, keeping his line of questions coming. It would seem Nami wasn't the only one intrigued by these mysterious pirates.

"Not exactly…" the older pirate responded flatly. The bartender tilted his head, slightly confused. "Are you lost then?" he wondered.

"Well… you can say that," the younger man replied, being extremely hesitant in his response.

"What island are you from? Maybe I can help," the bartender offered. Nami could see just how uneasy this made the two pirates, though that factor only confused her. Why were they so hesitant in their answer?

"You aren't familiar with our hometowns," the older one stated darkly. However, the bartender didn't pick up on their strange shift in tone. "I doubt that! No island fools this old man. I may just be a barkeeper, but I know of a lot of places," he stated with a fairly large grin.

"Alright then… have you heard of Britain or America?" the older man challenged with a menacing glare. A thick silence fell over the three. Nami had to admit, not even she recognized these places. The bartender let out a deep laugh. "Alright, I admit defeat. Never heard of them. What part of the sea do they sit? North, West, South… or is it here in the New World?"

"They're not in this world at all," the older pirate stated. Another dreadful moment of silence. Nami couldn't believe what she had just heard. These men were from another world? This was either the world's most ridiculous lie, or something far beyond her own expectations. Suddenly, just everyone in the bar burst out in laughter, everyone except for the two men, and the Straw Hats.

"Oh, please! Another World?! Something like that is just too good to be true!" a voice from the crowd bellowed.

"Yea, try coming up with a more believable lie next time!"

Suddenly, the younger of the two leapt to his feet, knocking over his stool as he spun around with a snarling face to the people behind him. "It's true! These places actually exist! We don't know how we got here, but we need to get home!" he shouted with a face as red as a cherry. The bar continued to laugh, and Nami couldn't help but to notice how trapped the two men looked.

"I'm sorry, Kid… but if something like that was real, then wouldn't the government have used it by now? It just sounds fishy," the bartender chuckled. The younger pirate took a reluctant step back, disbelief was written all over his face. "Not again…" he whimpered quietly. Nami would have missed it if she had not been paying attention to him. "Just give it up… no one will ever believe us," the other man murmured back.

All of a sudden, a chair scraped across the floor, creating a gruesome sound over the mocking laughter that filled the air. The sound was relatively close to Nami, and she realized what, or rather who it was just a second too late.

"I believe him."

Nami whipped her head around to glare at her captain in disbelief as he now stood next to his stool, glaring in annoyance at the rest of the crowd. It didn't take long for the laughter to return, only this time it was much louder. Nami couldn't help to notice as the two pirates' gazes fell upon him in awe.

"Is this kid serious?"

"What an idiot!"

"YOU SHUT YOU MOUTHES!" Luffy roared, sending a small wave of haki through the crowd. Nami's gut churned uncomfortably as a few innocent citizens collapsed to the floor. The Bartender's gaze fell upon the rubber man with slight anger. "Hey! There'll be no fighting in my bar…" he warned.

"I don't care! I'll beat every last one of ya int—OW!" Luffy's sentence was cut short as Nami and Zoro stepped into the scene. Nami cuffed her hand over his mouth as Zoro took him by the arms. "Idiot! Keep your mouth shut! This is no reason to get into a fight!" Nami hissed. She then turned toward the bartender with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry mister, he can get carried away. We'll take him away from here right away."

Immediately after, Nami and Zoro proceeded to drag Luffy across the floor and out the doors until they were a good ways away from the bar, the whole time Luffy was thrashing and cursing up a storm. When they finally stopped, he leapt to his feet, teeth bared in fury. "What the big idea, guys?!" he demanded.

"That's what we should be asking you! Just what did you think you would accomplish!?" Nami barked.

"But they were laughing at them!" Luffy retorted. "And they were telling the truth! I know it!"

"Something like that is too farfetched to be real!" Zoro corrected angrily.

Nami fell silent with a sigh. "Well, that was the thing. They didn't seem like they were lying, but how could something like that be real?" she wondered aloud. "You believed them too?!" Zoro gasped.

"I'm not saying I believe them!" Nami countered. "But I don't disbelieve them either." The three were quiet as they started to settle down a bit. Nami was the first to move on ahead.

"Let's just do our shopping. This is something better left to someone else."

OoOoOo

"'Sorcerer' Arthur Kirkland, ninety million berries," Nami read the words on the Wanted poster aloud. Behind her, Luffy and Zoro tugged along crate-fulls of supplies as the three of them headed back toward Sunny. The sun was just starting to dip over the mountains in the distance, indicating that it was just barely evening. And since the log pose was set on a new island, the crew was ready to set off toward their next adventure. As Nami read the words, Zoro furrowed his brow. "I thought you told us to forget about those pirates…" he challenged.

However, Nami ignored Zoro and kept reading. "It says here that Arthur's only been active for two years. It also states that he has a weird ability not known whether to be a devil fruit or some other supernatural ability unknown to our sciences today. It doesn't say much else about him, though," she stated. "Like I said, who cares!? Those pirates are none of our business!" Zoro growled again.

"Oh, come on! Don't they seem weird to you? I'm just reading up on him, that's all," Nami defended. "And pick up the pace! The others are waiting for us!" The three continued in silence for a few moments more. The whole time, Nami's eyes were fixated in Arthur's Wanted poster.

"There they are! I told you we'd find 'em eventually!" a familiar voice called out from a distance. The three Straw Hats paused abruptly, glancing back down the road only to find the two pirates standing at the end. The younger one was ahead, waving his arm for the three to wait. "Hey! You with the straw hat! Wait for us, dude!" he shouted.

"Speak of the devil…" Zoro grunted. Nami folded the wanted poster and tucked it into her pocket.

"Hey! Long time no see!" Luffy called back. The young boy tugged on Arthur's arm, who looked less than happy to see the Straw Hats again, much unlike his friend who looked way too enthusiastic. "Come on, Artie… move your ass!" he growled as he approached the three pirates. "And why should I? It's not like I want to see their filthy faces again…" Arthur hissed.

"What do you want…" Zoro scoffed, eyeing them suspiciously.

"We just wanted to Thank you guys!" the younger pirate stated with a bright smile. It would seem he didn't pick up on Zoro threatening glare one bit.

"For what?!" Zoro spat sourly. The young man's smile immediately simmered out. "Well, for standing up for us," he murmured in reply.

"You'll have to forgive my friend here. He can get carried away sometimes," Arthur sighed, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What're you apologizing for? Zoro's just being a grumpy-pants today!" Luffy laughed. Zoro shot an annoyed glance at his captain, but remained silent.

"Zoro, huh? So you _are_ the infamous Straw Hat pirates we've heard so much about," Arthur stated, his voice peaked with interest. Luffy's smile stretched even further as he let out a few chuckles of laughter. "Yep! I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who will be the pirate king!" he boasted proudly, giving Arthur and his friend the same lecture he gave just about everyone. At his words, Arthur's thick brows furrowed uncomfortably. However, Luffy received a polar opposite reaction from the younger pirate. "Pirate King?!" he gasped, blue eyes sparkling in absolute awe. "Are you really that strong?"

"I will be once I get to the One Piece!" Luffy stated with a proud smirk. However, while this younger pirate was busy admiring Luffy, Nami decided to step into the conversation. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I don't believe you introduced yourselves," she inquired politely.

"Oh, you mean you haven't heard of me before? My name is Arthur Kirkland, and this here…" Arthur explained, gesturing to the younger lad. "… is my friend Alfred Jones."

"Alfred _F._ Jones! You forgot the F again, Artie!" Alfred screeched.

"Those are unusual names," Nami pointed out.

"Well, like you may have heard back at the bar, we aren't from here. They're actually pretty common names where we come from," Arthur retorted almost hesitantly. This was the part of their conversation Nami was waiting to hear. "Are you two really from a different world?" she asked.

Arthur was silent for a long moment. The look on his face almost seemed painful in a way, like a trapped animal waiting for the slaughter. After what felt like an eternity, Arthur sighed heavily. "I'll leave that much up to you."

Nami mentally grimaced at his response, not exactly what she was hoping for. However, their little meeting was cut short as Arthur began walking away. Even Alfred watched him in slight confusion. "C'mon Alfred. You got to thank them. We should be getting back to our ship now," Arthur said with a gesture for his friend to follow. Alfred hesitated for a moment, briefly glancing back at the three Straw Hats behind him. When Arthur didn't stop to wait, Alfred decided it was best to follow his captain.

"Thanks again, Straw Hat! For everything!" Alfred called out, pausing briefly to wave at his newfound friends.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Luffy blurted suddenly. Both Arthur and Alfred halted and glanced back at them. "You guys said you're ship was broken didn't you?" Luffy continued.

"Yea, that's right," Arthur stated.

Nami mentally groaned at the offer she knew her captain was about to make; she knew it only meant they were stuck on this island for that much longer.

"Why don't you come back with us! I'll have Franky patch up your ship in no time flat! He's the best shipwright ever!" Luffy offered.

Both Arthur and Alfred blinked slowly in confusion. "Really? How much?" Alfred finally spoke up.

"Don't worry about the cost! You guys seem like nice people, I want to help!" Luffy responded, which was quickly followed by Nami's fist. "Free my ass!" she hissed. "Just let it go…" Zoro sighed.

Arthur and Alfred looked as astonished as ever, as if no one had ever been this kind to them in a long time. Luffy began to run back toward the ship, waving is arm as a gesture for them to follow. "C'mon! I'll introduce you to my crew and everything! It'll be great!" he laughed before bolting off once more. The others stayed in place for a brief moment.

"Are you going to take up this offer? Cause I can guarantee next time it won't be free," Nami asked in an unusually sweet voice. A small smiled crossed Arthur's lips. "I suppose there'd be no use in turning it down," Arthur pointed out as he made his way toward Nami and Zoro once more with Alfred close behind.

"He certainly is a lively one, that captain of yours," Arthur added.

Zoro grunted in amusement. "You have no idea."

OoOoOo

"I wonder what's taking everyone so long," Brook wondered aloud as he watched the sun dip slowly over the mountain. By this point, the sky was painted a beautiful array of scarlet reds and golden yellows in the breathtaking sunset. He brought his tea up to the bones of his teeth and gulped down another mouthful of this refreshing beverage. He wasn't the only one who found their timing strange; in fact, everyone was sitting out on the lawn deck waiting for their crew-mates' return.

"What if they got into a fight?" Robin suggested calmly. At her response, Usopp had a miniature heart attack. "Don't say that Robin! You're going to jinx us!" he cried.

"I wouldn't be too worried about that idiot. I'm sure Luffy can hold his own," Sanji grimaced. "It's that Moss-head that'll be a pain in the ass."

"Yea, but you seem to forget that this is the New World. There are probably pirates even on this island that could beat Luffy by just sneezing on him," Franky pointed out. From the railing where he sat, Chopper spun around abruptly in fear. "Really?!" he shrieked. "There are pirates that can do that?"

Franky scratched his head with his abnormally large hands. "Well, probably. The New World is full of _super_ guys like that," he retorted. Chopper turned back toward the empty docks, tears welling up in his eyes. "Luffy! Don't die!" he wailed out in horror.

"They probably ran into trouble finding some supplies, you know… with all the junk Usopp wrote down," Sanji huffed. "Hey! It's not junk! That stuff is for my awesome Usopp workshop I'll have you know!" Usopp defended angrily.

"Ah! Here they come!" Brook sang cheerily. Chopper's tearful face immediately snapped to sheer happiness upon spotting their three friends emerging from the plethora of buildings with the crates of supplies they needed.

Usopp sighed deeply in relief as he noticed none of them were covered in wounds or bandages of any sort. "Luffy! We've been waiting for you!" Chopper called out in excitement. Just then, the small group of three became five as two more unfamiliar faces emerged with them.

"Looks like we have company…" Sanji grunted.

Luffy waved back at his friends as the approached. "Hey guys! We brought some friends!" he called back, equally excited.

"Did he say friends?" Usopp asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the two newcomers. "It would seem he did," Robin giggled in amusement.

"Don't tell me…" Sanji groaned.

"These guys are our new crew-mates! Meet Eyebrows and Mr. Cowlick!" Luffy introduced with a silly grin. Before anymore words were exchanged, Zoro hoisted himself from the ladder with both crates in hand. "Don't take him seriously, they aren't staying," he stated quickly.

"Pardon me?! We did not agree to such a thing! And that's not our names you twit!" Arthur screeched. Alfred's boisterous laughter filled the air. "Dude! He called you Eyebrows!"

"It's not funny!" Arthur shrieked, pinching Alfred's cheek angrily.

"If you don't mind me asking, if you two aren't staying, then what brings you to our lively ship?" Brook asked curiously. However, he did not get the response he wanted as Alfred's eye practically bulged from his head in sheer terror. Even Arthur looked a bit stunned by Brook's appearance. In a flurry of panic, Alfred began running in crazed circled on the small deck, tears streaming down his face "What the hell! The skeleton is talking… THE SKELETON IS TALKING, MAN!" he howled in fear.

"I see that… the work of a devil fruit, I presume?" Arthur stated a lot more calmly than Alfred. Brook's joyous laughter filled the air. "Yes! You are correct, Mr. Eyebrows!" he beamed. "For cryin' out loud! That's not my name! I'm Arthur! _Ar-thur_!" Arthur corrected, face bright red in anger. Alfred's terror calmed down a bit as he cowered behind Arthur. From the ladder where he sat, Luffy stretched his arm out, wrapping both pirates in his rubbery grasp. "Come on! Don't be shy!" he shouted.

Again, the two gaped in shock at Luffy's stretching limb. If anything, this crew certainly gave Arthur and Alfred a larger dose of shock than they were used to on a daily basis. Both pirates were flung off the planks of the dock in an instant and crashed roughly on the soft grass of the lawn deck. Immediately, Arthur hoisted himself up, glaring angrily at Luffy. "What are you doing, idiot?! We'll just end up back on the docks anyways! We're here to fix our ship, remember?" he snarled.

"Oh? Your ship needs fixing?" Franky inquired. Arthur's breath hitched in his throat as his gaze fell upon Franky.

"Yea! Do you wanna fix it for them, Franky?" Luffy answered in place of Arthur.

Alfred finally dragged himself to a sitting position, staring in awe at Franky's more than unusual body.

"Sure thing!" Franky stated with a large grin.

"You've got a robot too? What the hell's up with your weird ass crew, man?!" Alfred proclaimed as he took a good look around at the people surrounding him.

"How rude!" Franky huffed. "I'm obviously a cyborg!"

"Well, I certainly don't see any human in you…" Arthur commented.

"Never mind that! Which way is your ship? I'll have it patched up and ready to go by midnight," Franky asked, changing the subject.

"We docked our ship on the abandoned shore, in that dir—"

As Arthur pointed to the northeast side of the island, he paused mid-sentence. His outstretched arm went frigid and his blood ran cold. Following the path which his own finger led to, rising up from the shore beyond the trees, was a thick pillar of smoke which flickered with a sickening orange glow, most likely indicating a fire.

"You mean where that huge pillar of smoke is coming from…?" Usopp deadpanned uncomfortably. Arthur was beginning to panic as he gazed at the smoke in disbelief. As much as he wanted to believe that it was just a random flame, there was nothing else that it could be but it own ship. "Artie…" Alfred said in a quivering voice.

All of a sudden, Arthur burst from the ground, leaping over the rail of the Sunny and landing smoothly back on the docks again, quickly taking off in a sprint toward the horrifying site. Alfred was quick to follow his captain's lead, and without saying a word, both were gone.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Sanji groaned, exhaling the smoke from his cigarette.

Luffy turned toward Franky anger glowed in his eyes. "Franky! Come with me!" he ordered as he took off running after the two pirates. With an understanding nod, Franky took off alongside him. The two took off running through the town, drawing in a lot of attention. Even though they could no longer see Alfred and Arthur, the cloud of smoke was keeping them on the right track. They passed through the town in a matter of minutes, not stopping once until they broke through the line of trees at the shore where Arthur had docked what once used to be his ship. Now, all that sat in the water was a burning heap of charred wood. Arthur and Alfred stood in the water of the shore, frozen in disbelief.

Luffy was furious, but managed to keep his anger bottled up for the moment as he watched Arthur from where he stood. "Our boat…" Alfred whimpered. Suddenly, Arthur collapsed to his knees, eyes wide in a mixture of terror and rage as he watched what was left of his ship continue to burn. "Who would do such a thing…?" he breathed shakily. The water from the sea soaked through his pants and cloak, but that was the least of Arthur's concerns at the moment.

"My crew… our home… what the hell?!" he roared. Arthur punched the sand beneath the water, causing the salt water to splash up into his face. His teeth bared in a snarl as tears formed in his eyes. "Damn it! Now how are we going to find our way home?! I swear I'll kill the bastard who did this!" he cursed.

Franky watched as his captain approached Arthur slowly. At the sound of his sandals crunching in the sand, Arthur's gaze whipped back toward him. "And what are you staring at?! Go away, Straw Hat… we don't need your pity!" he snarled.

"Arthur!" Alfred gasped.

"I'm not here to give you pity, Eyebrows," Luffy grunted darkly. Arthur's face twisted in anger. "Then what do you want?" he muttered. Luffy's gaze was as blank and unreadable as an empty notebook, despite the uncontrollable rage built up inside. "I want to help you," he stated.

"You want to help us?!" Arthur yowled. "How can you help us when you don't even know who we are? Or where we came from?! You don't even know us, and you want to _help us_?! I've never heard such idiocy in my entire life, from a pirate especially!"

"You're right… I don't know anything about you guys," Luffy said, keeping the same serious tone. Arthur's breath hitched in his throat. "I don't know if you're good guys or bad guys… I don't know your story and honestly I don't care to. But I know the face of a man who's telling the truth, and I'd hate to see your dream die here with your ship."

Arthur's face loosened up in awe at Luffy's words.

"I promise I will take you back to your home."

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_Argh! Sorry the last part is so cheesy! I had a better plan for that last scene a while ago, but I seemed to have lost and forgotten it. I hope the characters are all staying in character for the most part without making the storyline awkward. _

_Thanks for reading! And I apologize for mistakes; I will fix them whenever I find them. _


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Arthur watched as Guzen drifted farther and farther away as the Straw Hat's ship took out to the sea. It had been a while since he reluctantly agreed to tag along with Luffy and his crew, but he and Alfred have been eerily silent since. This whole situation was just so unbelievable, though Arthur wasn't sure which half of it was more so. On one side, he just couldn't bring himself to believe that his own ship had been destroyed; his crew vanished without a trace. Arthur never recalled holding a grudge against anyone in this world, and if he did, he was sure to end their life quickly. The only reasonable explanation was just an accident, but something told Arthur that was highly unlikely.

However, what he found even more surprising was the fact that Luffy actually wanted to help him. Either Arthur had grown up knowing pirates all the wrong way, or this whole thing was just a trap. Arthur knew better than anyone else that pirates were nothing but cold-blooded, stone-hearted criminals who knew nothing else but rape and pillage, gold and jewels. Certainly, these pirates can't be much different, especially taking into consideration their captain's goal of the One Piece. Yet, Arthur couldn't bring himself to believe that Luffy and his gang were bad people. He would never forget the determination and passion that shone in Luffy's very eyes when he told Arthur that he wanted to help him. But still, Arthur had to wonder why.

The sun had almost completely set by now, only leaving a faint orange glow as it dipped below the mountains of Guzen. Even now, every single member of the Straw Hat pirates was out on deck, doing tasks, passing time, or even just relaxing. Already, Arthur noticed a big difference between this and his old crew. His old crew was made up of nothing but cowardly misfits who had nowhere else to go. When they weren't at an island, the crew was almost always below deck, sometimes even during a battle.

"Hey, Nami! What's the next island like?" Luffy blurted, stretching his limps to hang from the rail near the helm where Nami was guiding the ship.

"The most stable needle seems to be pointing to an island called Lakretta. I believe it's a winter Island, filled with nothing but mountains and snow, but there's a single mountain resort sitting somewhere on the island with a beautiful hot spring the size of a lake," Nami explained, sighing in contentment just imagining the relaxing hot spring.

"What?! I thought the New World was supposed to be super scary or something!" Luffy groaned.

"Oh, you be quiet!" Sanji barked from where he sat on the lawn deck. "Enjoy these relaxing islands while we can, the rest of the New World probably won't be such a walk in the park!"

Arthur could hear the crew consistent rambling, but had tuned out their words completely by this point. He and Alfred had been sitting next to one of the trees on deck, just staring blankly out to the calming waves. Arthur had barely noticed the silence that overtook the boat after the initial excitement died down. It was when he felt the presence of someone else that he snapped the full alertness. He turned his head just in time to be poked on the forehead by Luffy, who had managed to hoist himself over to them rather quickly.

"Hey Eyebrows! You've been pretty quiet for a while," Luffy pointed out. Arthur burst into anger again at his repulsive nickname. "Bloody Hell…I told you not to call me that!" he screeched.

"Is something wrong?" Luffy asked suddenly, his voice taking a more concerned tone.

Arthur managed to simmer down, gritting his teeth in frustration. "Well, aside from losing my ship, my crew and being picked up by a team of pirates I don't even know…" he quipped.

"Artie, when you put it that way our situation sounds bleak," Alfred sighed.

"You know, the rest of us would still like an explanation to what's going on here exactly," Usopp stated sternly, watching both Alfred and Arthur suspiciously.

"I already told you! We're going to help them!" Luffy retorted. Usopp folded his arms, narrowing his eyes as he moved his gaze to meet Luffy's. "Yea, but why?" he asked.

"Well, you see… When we met them in the bar they said that they were trying to get back to their home which was in another world. Nobody believed them, and then someone burned down their ship, so we're helping them!" Luffy explained. There was a thick moment of silence as Luffy finished his very brief summary of his day.

"Uh… what?" Chopper murmured.

Usopp sighed heavily. "C'mon, Luffy… we need a better explanation than that… None of that sounds even remotely possible, sounds like they're just pulling your leg."

"We're not!" Arthur shouted aggressively. The crew's attention was on him now. "I swear this is not just some ill prank. Alfred and I… We are from a place called Earth. This place really does exist, I promise you though I do not hold any evidence."

The crew's interest was slightly peaked now.

"Earth, huh? What kind of island is it?" Sanji questioned calmly, following along with their story for the time being.

"It's not an island!" Alfred spoke up. "Earth is this magnificent planet that's home to thousands of countries, like Artie and myself. It's kinda like your world, I guess. Only there aren't any crazy ass pirates roaming ours."

"What do you mean by 'countries like yourselves?' Are the two of you leaders of your own countries?" Robin asked.

"I guess there's no use in hiding it any longer…" Arthur groaned, holding his fingers to his temple in irritation. He had told Alfred many times not to mention the fact they were countries, but sometimes Alfred can be just as rubber-brained as the very captain of this ship. "The two of us are humanizations of the countries themselves. Where we come from, our mortality depends on the economy and general well-being of the country we represent. Every war… Every turmoil and distress our countries have endured… we've had to take the brunt of it all. Though we will never age in our world, we can still be beaten down by force. Several countries have already died out this way, and sadly it is something that failed to carry over to this world. Here, we are simply humans," Arthur explained.

Luffy's eyes suddenly sparkled in admiration. "The two of you are countries, for real?!" he gasped. "Yea, I'm America, and he's Britain," Alfred stated.

"What's it like there?!" Luffy urged.

"What, in America? It's super awesome, dude! I don't mean to brag or anything, but America is, like, the coolest place to live right now! It's got 50 states, and each one is uniquely different! America is the land of the free!"

Alfred's eyes sparkled in excitement as he explained his home in complete detail to Luffy, whose stature was equally as excited in hearing about this far off land. Arthur could honestly say he hadn't seen him this happy in two long years. Even the crew, who they barely knew, could sense Alfred's sheer happiness, and also his homesickness.

"So can you poop?"

"Erm… what the hell kind of question is that? We _are_ still humans through and through…"

Suddenly, Chopper took a step forward. "So, how did you end up here?" he asked innocently. That was when things went deathly quiet again. Arthur sighed heavily. "That's something I wish I could answer."

"So you don't know?" Nami inquired. Arthur shook his head. "The last thing I recall from our world was getting into a brawl with Alfred. I was about to cast a spell on him, when some white smoke enveloped us, and next thing we knew, the two of us were in the middle of nowhere.

"Hold on a second, what do you mean by casting a spell?" Nami interrupted.

"I know this might sound hard to believe, but I possess the ability of Black Magic, a sorcery once known in my land. Though the usage of such magic has long since died out, I can still access it when I please. I'm just glad at least something carried over to this world, or else I'd have been a dead man a long time ago," Arthur answered.

"Magic?!" Chopper squealed in awe. His eyes were dazzled with sparkles, and he was quickly joined by Luffy. "Show us something cool, Eyebrows!" he demanded.

Arthur flared up again. "For the love of God, man! Stop calling me Eyebrows!" he hissed, but his words and tone didn't affect Luffy at all. "I wanna see some magic!" he stated. Arthur pinched the temple of his brow in annoyance. "Very well then…" he groaned. Arthur gazed seriously at Luffy with his one good eye as he help up the palm of his hand to the sky. Suddenly, a small flicker of flame popped up, and danced calmly like a candle. Luffy and Chopper went into a fit of amazement.

"Now I understand why they call you the Sorcerer," Nami said with a giggle.

"It's not only that," Arthur continued. He moved his hand in a fluent motion, lifting the liquid from thin air to gather around his hand. "I can control most elements including fire, water, earth, and light. I can even summon demons. When the people in this world saw my power, they were shocked by it, and even more so when they discovered I could still swim. To them, I'm nothing more than a monster," Arthur explained.

"That's so cool!" Luffy shouted in complete admiration. "Yea! So cool!" Chopper echoed. Arthur blinked slowly, slightly baffled by Luffy's response. Never before, in the past two years, has anyone reacted to his magic in such a way. In fact, the last person to react like this was Alfred himself.

"What about you, Mr. Cowlick? Do you have any special powers?" Luffy inquired excitedly.

"Not particularly. Back at home I was revered for my super human strength, but in this world, even that is no match. So I just use weapons, nothin' special," Alfred stated.

Even though Alfred wasn't nearly as exciting as Arthur, Luffy still found himself chuckling uncontrollably. "I knew the two of you were something special! We have two more awesome guys on our crew!" Luffy cheered, clapping his shoes together.

"For the ump-teenth time, Straw Hat… We aren't—"

"Hey, Sanji! Make us a _huge_ feast, okay?" Luffy interrupted, turning to call out to his cook. Sanji nodded and quickly disappeared into the kitchen. Arthur held onto his breath, debating on whether or not to finish his sentence, but he knew no matter what he said wouldn't convince this idiot otherwise. Arthur released the breath with a light sigh and a small smile as the crew around them dispersed. Arthur had honestly never felt so hopeful in his entire life. He'd never felt so close to home than he did now.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile like that," Alfred stated. Arthur's gaze whipped over to meet the calming blue gaze of his friend. "These pirates are something else, aren't they?" he added, gazing back out to the bustling crew on deck. Their attention had since moved away from Alfred and Arthur, but the feeling of belonging they received from them never left.

"Something else doesn't even begin to describe them. These pirates don't seem like pirates at all, and that's the part that has me worried."

OoOoOo

If there was one thing in this world that was more calming to Arthur, it was the stars in the sky. Here, there were so much more of them than back on earth, at least from where he lived anyways. There was nothing more calming than sitting in the grass, gazing up at the billions of stars dazzling against the indigo sky. Arthur reached his hand up, half wondering to himself if his planet was somewhere among them.

"What are you doing?" Alfred's playful snort sounded suddenly, causing Arthur to jolt in surprise. He sat up, glaring at his friend wildly as he emerged from the doorway leading below deck. He was rubbing his eyes tiredly and the bags underneath them only further displayed his lack of sleep. Yet, despite this, Alfred managed a small smile.

"Nothing much, just reaching out to the stars in hopes that they'll carry us home," Arthur responded in a sigh. "And what might you be doing out here at this time of night? You certainly look tired…"

Alfred sat himself beside his friend, clutching at his stomach with the same pained smile on his face, that same smile that Arthur has come to hate over the years.

"Couldn't sleep," Alfred grunted.

"I see," Arthur retorted, laying back down and gazing at the stars once more. It was dreadfully silent for a few moments. The quiet quickly became awkward for both of them. It was Alfred who finally broke it. "That chef's food was amazing, huh," he stated, referring back to the rambunctious meal they'd eaten just a couple hours ago. Arthur himself felt a smirk stretch over his lips with a teasing snort of laughter. "No kidding, that French Froggie probably couldn't make anything half as delectable as that," he agreed.

"And this crew is so rowdy, but they're a lot of fun," Alfred continued. "It reminds me of the world conference meetings back home."

"My thoughts exactly. That long-nosed fool and the reindeer remind me of the Italy brothers. So cowardly, and noisy," Arthur chuckled.

"Yea! And Nami reminds me of Hungary, don't you agree?" Alfred prodded.

"I most certainly do. Those two women are terrifying," Arthur replied, the corners of his lips stretching in an even larger smile.

"And that skeleton can play music thirty times better than that sissy Austrian!" Alfred added, becoming more excited as he related their new friends to their old ones.

"I'm not certain of that. Mr. Austria can play pretty well himself," Arthur countered.

Their laughter died down a bit, and the sorrow began to take over once more, though their smiles never left their faces. "I miss everyone, Artie," Alfred stated hoarsely.

"Yea, me too," Arthur agreed in an equally saddened tone. There was more silence. For a long while, the only audible noise was the calming waves. This time, it was Arthur who broke the silence.

"Do you trust these pirates?"

Alfred glanced back curiously at his friend, whose gaze hadn't moved from the sky. "Well considering how much they've helped us, why wouldn't I? Don't you?" he replied.

Arthur narrowed his eye, nose wrinkling in his uncertainty. "It's not that I don't trust them, but I have a strange feeling. Something's not right," Arthur stated.

"What's not right about them? Alfred asked.

"They don't behave like pirates. Pirates aren't supposed to help other pirates unless they gain something. They aren't supposed to be this kind," Arthur explained.

"Maybe the pirates of this world are different. I highly doubt they want anything in return, or we'd of heard about it when we set sail and had nowhere to go," Alfred pointed out.

"We've run into plenty of scoundrels out on this ocean. The pirates of this world are no different from ours. So what makes the Straw Hat Pirates different?" Arthur inquired.

"They act like a family," Alfred replied.

Arthur gazed at his friend in shock as if he's just solved the mysteries of life itself. He'd said the words that had been unknown to Arthur, but made all the sense in the world to the current situation.

"I can't totally explain it, but they seem to care about each other, as if they'd all been affected by some tragedy in the past," Alfred explained with a glowing smile.

Arthur chuckled, bringing Alfred's attention back to him with the look of embarrassment. "What's so funny?!" he demanded.

"Well, look at you reading the situation for once," Arthur laughed. Alfred's posture fell a bit uncertainly, but otherwise his smile returned. "Oh, shut the hell up, dude. It's not _that_ surprising," he snarled lightly. Arthur rested his hands behind his head as he fixed his eyes on the stars once more before shutting them for the night.

"Perhaps, you could be right. We'll just have to see how this whole situation plays out in the future."

OoOoOo

A young maiden accompanied Sanji in the men's quarters. For now, the room was completely empty, the lighting dimmed to creating an all together lustful atmosphere as this strange, beautiful young woman approached Sanji on the cot where he sat, jaw gaped wide open in her sheer gorgeousness. She had long, wavy blonde hair, and stunning green eyes which Sanji seemed to become hypnotized by. He knew not who she was, but nor did he care.

Suddenly, the lady took a seat next to him, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and stretching one smooth leg over his lap in an inviting pose. She leaned in extra close, feeling Sanji's trembling body with her warm hands. Sanji took in a deep breath of her scent, a lovely aroma of… smoke? He turned away immediately, coughing a couple times. That smell was most certainly not his cigarette, but what on earth could it be?

Sanji sniffed the air only to find the smell stronger. He was certain now that this was no tobacco smoke. He quickly found himself springing upward out of his all too pleasant dream. He glanced around the room. All the men were still here, sleeping the morning away. All except for Zoro, who's been on night watch, and Chopper. Sanji began to feel depressed upon realizing that woman was merely a dream, but that was when the dreadful smell of the smoke came back. His heart nearly skipped a beat. So that smell really wasn't only in his dream after all.

Sanji rose from his cot, making his way out toward the deck to track down the smell. Once outside, he paused. Judging by the lack of light, Sanji guessed it was about early morning. But then again, with suck thick fog it was hard to tell. Moving right along, Sanji followed the smell up the stairs and across the upper deck, and stopped upon realizing the smell was coming from his kitchen. Sanji had a bad feeling. He knew Luffy was still below deck, so it could have been him. He questioned himself if he had left to stove running by accident, or if something could have simply gone wrong. He growled to himself, preparing for the worst as he turned the knob and entered to see Chopper sitting inside.

Upon his entrance, Chopper put on a beaming smile. "Sanji! You're awake early!" he stated cheerfully.

Sanji took a few cautionary steps into the room, looking around for anything burnt or destroyed. "Well, yea. That rancid stench woke me up, I just wanted to make sure that my kitchen was still in one piece," he retorted.

"Don't worry! That's just Arthur's cooking," Chopper responded. Right away, Sanji's eyes bolted to the shadowy figure sitting on the green sofa against the wall. He had been so quiet that Sanji had barely noticed him. "The smell woke me up too, but Arthur said he was going to make us breakfast as thanks for helping! He even let me help too!" Chopper squealed.

"And don't worry, Mr. Chef," Arthur added into the conversation, putting on a smile that looked much darker than he intended. "My recipe for scones doesn't taste as bad as it sme—"

Suddenly, Sanji's foot made impact with Arthur's face in an instantaneous attack, interrupting him mid-sentence. Arthur collapsed to his side as Chopper gazed on in horror. "WAH! Arthur!" he wailed. Arthur quickly regained himself, sitting back up with an angry snarled planted on his face. "I beg your pardon, but what the hell was that for?!" he screeched.

"And just who in the hell gave _you_ permission to use _my_ kitchen, huh?! _I'm_ the chef around here! And just how the hell did you get into the locked fridge?!" Sanji blurted furiously. Arthur wiped a bit of blood from his lip. "Oh come now, only a daft git couldn't open that damned lock," Arthur quipped. "Blimey, that really hurt! Is this how you pirates show appreciation for a selfless act?"

Sanji physically simmered down, despite still being mentally flared up. "No, not usually. I just don't appreciate you using my kitchen without my consent first," he growled.

"Oh, well my apologies then. But I wanted to make this a surprise. I don't usually go out of my way to show my appreciation like this I'll have you know," Arthur sighed. Sanji groaned to himself, scratching the back of his neck irritably. "Yea, whatever. I guess I'll let you help out just for today," he hissed. Sanji made his way over to one of the trays of scones and picked up one of the biscuits and examined them closely. "I've never heard of scones before," he stated.

"They're one of my country's delicacies. It was a recipe passed down by my Mum," Arthur said, relaxing in his seat once more. Suddenly, the oven timer went off, and Chopper sprung from his stool where he sat. "The last batch is done, Mr. Arthur! Let me get that for you!" he offered, already grabbing a rag so not to burn his skin. Arthur smiled playfully at him. "Thank you very much for your assistance," he chuckled.

"A family recipe, huh? Must be something to look forward to then," Sanji said out of the blue.

"Go on! Try it yourself!" Arthur suggested.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sanji bit into the dry biscuit , and almost immediately spat it back out in disgust. He had honestly never eaten anything so tasteless and utterly foul in his entire life. "You call this a delicacy?!" he screeched, throwing the atrocity in Arthur's direction. "Who the hell would eat this garbage?!"

"Garbage, you say?!" Arthur snapped, just barely dodging the scone as it made impact with the wall behind him.

As Chopper placed the hot tray down on a cooling rack, he became curious and grabbed a biscuit for himself.

"Garbage doesn't even begin to describe this horrendous slop! If this is a delicacy in your country, then I hope I never visit!" Sanji insulted.

"I made these out of the kindness in my heart you git! The least you can do is act like it tasted good!" Arthur bit back.

"ACK! These taste horrible!" Chopper sputtered suddenly.

"You too, reindeer?! That's it; none of you have any sense of taste!" Arthur screeched.

Sanji tried his hardest to remain calm. "Well, lucky for you, our Captain will eat anything. I'll go get the others and just hope someone eats these, or else you'll be eating all of them on your own. No food gets wasted on this ship," he warned just before making his exit. Things quickly became quiet.

"You know, once you get past the first bite… they aren't as bad as they seemed," Chopper stated, forcing down another mouthful. Arthur wasn't sure if he was lying or not, but he was grateful for any bit of appreciation after the chef's infuriated outburst. "Thank you, I appreciate it, but you don't have to lie for my sake," Arthur sighed with a smile.

"I'm not lying! They really are!" he insisted.

"You're much kinder than that chef. I was afraid he was going to kill me for a moment there," Arthur shivered.

"That's Sanji for you! Don't worry, he's like that with Zoro too, but he's really a nice guy once you get to know him!" Chopper said excitedly. Arthur gazed down at the little reindeer playfully. "Is that so? Do you enjoy being on this crew, Chopper?" he asked. Chopper's eyes lit up immediately and his little mouth curved in the biggest smile Arthur had ever seen on any animal in his life. "Of course I do! We all go on so many adventures, and everyone looks out for one another! Back before I joined them, everyone was afraid on me because I looked like a monster, but my forms didn't even scare Luffy! He even thought I was cool! And he didn't even know I was a doctor until I was on his ship," Chopper explained happily. Yet another puzzle piece that didn't quite fit to Arthur. He invited this little deer on his crew simply because of his looks? However, Arthur refused to let any of his confusion show, and put on a small smile. "That sounds fascinating! But don't you miss your home?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Chopper blurted. "I miss Doctorine, and everyone who cared for me, but I like being here with Luffy more."

"I see," Arthur breathed, hoping to end the conversation here. However, Chopper took him by surprise. "What about you?" he asked. Arthur blinked slowly at him. "Pardon?" he questioned.

"Don't you miss your home, Arthur?" he asked more clearly. A needle drove its way into Arthur's heart. "Of course I do, or else I wouldn't be trying to find a way to get there," he pointed out. Chopper made his over to sit beside Arthur. "I heard your friend talking about his country yesterday, but you never told us about yours," he pointed out. Arthur continued to watch Chopper in slight shock, surprised that anyone was even interested about his country… or rather surprised that they still believed him. "Please tell me about your country! I want to hear about it!" Chopper pleaded. Arthur couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face.

"Alright, alright!" he chuckled as Chopper's bright eyes met his. "My country is called Britain, or the UK if you prefer. My country is a beautiful land where it rains for six months of the year and snows the other half. But my people are accustomed to it by now. Our country is ruled by a queen, unlike Alfred's country. Britain has been around for thousands of years, so a lot of buildings are old, but simply majestic," Arthur explained, voice trailing off and growing hoarse. "That sounds like an amazing country! As long as it snows there, I wouldn't mind it!" Chopper stated in awe. "Can I visit your country, Arthur?"

"That doesn't sound like a good idea, Chopper. You might get stuck in the same situation as Al and I," Arthur stated with a laugh.

All of a sudden, the kitchen door slammed open, and in ran the noisy captain of the ship with drool running down his chin. "Sanji told me you made us breakfast, Eyebrows!" he burst. Arthur flared up momentarily. "Why are you still calling me that?!" he roared.

Lining in behind Luffy was the remainder of the crew. The kitchen quickly went from being sorrowful and quiet to being rambunctious and noisy in a matter of seconds. Somehow, within that time Sanji had managed to arrange the Scones on a serving plate rather artfully as he placed them on the table. "This was very sweet of you, Mr. Kirkland," Robin giggled.

"Yea! You really are a _super_ guy!" Franky agreed.

Sanji murmured something into Nami and Robin's ear just as a familiar figure stepped into the doorway. Arthur glanced back to meet the gaze of Alfred. "Sanji! Don't be rude! They can't be _that_ bad!" Nami hissed quietly, but certainly just loud enough to catch Arthur's ear. As Alfred's gaze fell upon Arthur's offerings of appreciation to the crew, his cheeks puffed out with air in a laugh. "Dude, Artie… I thought you wanted to show your appreciation, not kill them," he teased. "You shut your trap!" Arthur barked.

"Now, listen up everyone. Arthur made these for us with kindness, so you better eat every last crumb, you hear me?!" Sanji announced with a hint of disgust in his tone. The crew nodded in agreement as they all reached out to grab their share. Arthur waited in hopes that someone… _anyone_ would like them. Then again, he did say that their captain would eat anything. So long as he was content, then Arthur would be too. He watched as their faces twisted in uncertainty, but so far none of them made any shrewd comments. "It has an… _interesting_ taste. Thank you, Arthur!" Nami stated, almost gagging on the word 'interesting.'

"Yea, it's certainly not the worst food I've ever tasted…" Usopp added. Arthur sighed to himself. _Great_. Now they're masking their disgust with fake kindness.

"This stuff tastes like shit!" Luffy burst out suddenly. The crew all gaped at him in shock. "Not even Luffy?!" they chimed simultaneously. Arthur slumped over on the floor in utter depression. "You guys suck," he murmured. Brook was quick to come to his aid in an attempt to be calming. "Mr. Arthur, please don't be upset! I thought they were rather good!" he whimpered. Alfred burst into laughter from the chair upon which he sat, finding this whole situation rather humorous.

Sanji rose from his own seat. "See? I told you they tasted bad. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll cook us up a much more tasteful—"

"Oh no!" Nami shrieked suddenly, interrupting Sanji. Everyone in the room lurched uncomfortably at Nami's outburst. She was glaring down at her log pose in total shock. Arthur had a bad feeling about this. "What's wrong, Nami?" Chopper asked meekly.

"This is impossible! How on earth…" she trailed off before bursting from her seat and taking off out the door to stand at the rail. Outside, the fog had become much thicker, so much so that it was nearly impossible to see anything more than 10 feet ahead of Sunny's bow. In an instant, the rest of the crew was by her side. "Hey, wanna tell us what happened?" Zoro growled.

Just then, the Sunny crashed into something rather roughly, sending quite a few of them tumbling to the ground. Franky immediately became concerned. He ran up to the railing closer to the edge and peered down, only to find the shore beneath them. "The shore…? Hey, Nami! Didn't you tell us we weren't set to dock until the afternoon?! What's up with this?!" he screeched.

"This isn't the island we were set out for," Nami quivered. The ship fell eerily silent. "What do you mean by that?" Zoro questioned hesitantly.

"I don't how, but were on a completely different course than before… the needle pointing to this island isn't even picking up on its magnetic signal at all!" she stated. Usopp and Chopper began to act skittishly at Nami's sudden change in attitude. "M-Maybe we just drifted a little," Usopp stammered.

"That's impossible!" Nami retorted. "I checked the pose before we came up here, merely minutes ago! We were perfectly fine! This island… and Lakretta have an entire island between them! There's no way we could have drifted _that far_ in a matter of minutes. Even for the New World, this is insane!" Nami wailed in a fear-stricken tone.

"Do you know where we landed?" Arthur asked uneasily.

The fog in the air began to lift a bit, revealing in the backdrop what seemed to be an enormous, vacant volcano. The volcano itself obviously wasn't active anymore; in fact, the majority of the outer walls had caved in to form a barrier around what looked to be a vacant ghost town, devoid of any liveliness what-so-ever. Just the sight alone gave Nami the chills.

"We've landed on Stromboli."

* * *

_Arthur's Note: Ta-Dah! Finally got around to writing Chapter 2. I hope it's at least decent so far. I'm sorry for any mistakes, and any moments where characters don't seem themselves! I hope at least it answers a few questions! XD And thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 3

_Author's Notes: Okay, first off let me just apologize for that long wait since the last chapter. My writing inspiration kinda comes and goes randomly, and this time it didn't come back for a while. But I finally got around to finishing chapter 3! Keep in mind, I wrote half of this 3 months ago so the style might be a little different. Anyways, you get to look forward to new characters, and me desperately trying to write a long scene of Arthur trying to be useful/ talking with some of the crew. I hope it's not as boring to you as I found it re-reading the whole thing. I want to try to draw these new characters out eventually, so keep an eye on my Tumblr. (Chibi Torra) Sorry for any mistakes I may have missed, I'll fix them whenever I find them again. And thanks for reading! Please let me know how you like this story so far! Now, onward! To Chapter 3!_

* * *

Chapter 3

"_Stormbully…?_ I don't get it. What's so bad about this place?" Luffy asked, not catching onto the fearful atmosphere in the slightest.

"Are you kidding?! Just look at show scary this place looks!" Usopp shrieked.

"Scary!" Chopper echoed fearfully, clinging to Usopp's leg.

Luffy merely cocked his head to the side. "Well, an island's an island as far as I'm concerned," he stated.

"I've heard bad rumors about this island," Nami quivered.

"I've heard them as well," Robin stated. Crossing her arms slightly in distress.

"Stromboli… Thousands of years ago, this island was actually an active volcano, one of the largest in the world. The volcano has been dormant for seven-hundred years now, so naturally explorers came by to claim it as their land. A settlement was formed, and for seven-hundred years these people lived in peace. However, a strange phenomenon has been occurring over the past 10 years. Random people will disappear overnight without a trace, and they are never seen again. This has happened so often, that a strong city of ten-thousand people has been reduced to almost nothing."

Robin's story sent a chill throughout the others, especially Usopp and Chopper who clung to each other as they wailed out in fear. "Ten-thousand people in just 10 years?!" Alfred gasped. Robin nodded.

"It is said that this phenomenon only occurs on foggy nights. Some of the locals used to believe that it was the volcano's former God, infuriated that humans had destroyed it. But with nowhere else to go, they are left stranded in wait to be the next victim," Robin continued.

"B-b-b-b-but it's foggy right now! I really think we should leave!" Usopp shrieked.

"As much as I'd like to, we can't do that. The log pose has to pick up on another island before we can depart from this one now," Nami sighed, still staring in disbelief at her navigational instrument. "I'm still caught up on how we got off course so quickly. No matter which way you look at this situation, it's just not possible."

Franky scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Who knows. Maybe you just read it wrong," he suggested. Franky physically jolted when Nami shot an irritated glance in his direction. However, her irritation quickly died down with a heavy sigh as she brought her palm up to her forehead. "That has to be the only explanation," she groaned.

"So you got us lost," Zoro deadpanned. Suddenly, Nami smacked him over the head with her fist, anger blazing in her eyes as he writhed on the floor in pain. "I don't want to hear that from _you_!" Nami screeched. Luffy burst out in laughter as Chopper rushed to Zoro's aid.

"I've got a bad feeling about this place," Arthur grunted, nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Hey! Don't worry about it! I'm sure this island is fine!" Luffy bellowed with a toothy smile. Still, he was the only one who looked remotely happy about this place.

"May I ask why, Mr. Arthur?" Brook prodded uneasily.

"Even in this world people are disappearing. Does anyone else find that strange? I just don't want to go through that again," Arthur replied.

"Maybe they were killed!" Luffy blurted. Usopp and Chopper shuddered. "No, if those legends are in fact true, then they would find evidence that they were killed. But the story says that these people just disappeared without a trace. If you think about it, this island might hold the very key you need to getting back home," Robin pointed out. Arthur's brows furrowed uncomfortably. "And what if it's not? What if Al and I get sucked into a different place again? We'd be back at square one," Arthur quipped.

"That is a possibility…" Robin stated.

"If this island makes you uneasy, then we'll go talk to the locals. Feel free to stay here and watch the ship with the others, and we'll see what kind of information we can get out of them," Sanji suggested. Arthur did not break his glared from the colorless island as he replied. "That sounds good for the moment."

Alfred couldn't help but to watch Arthur in concern. Something was off about him.

"Alright! Those who want to explore the island come with me!" Sanji announced. Right away, Luffy sprung into action with a cheerful shout. Nami and Robin were the only other two who stepped forward. The rest of the crew dispersed throughout the deck, going about their usual activities. Alfred approached Arthur, who hadn't looked away from the island since Robin's story.

"Hey," Alfred whispered sharply. Finally, Arthur's gaze whipped in his direction. "Is something wrong?"

"Don't you remember?" Arthur asked in a cold murmur.

"You may have to remind me…" Alfred grunted, grimacing at his pal's vagueness.

"The day we were thrown into this world… it was foggy then too," Arthur stated. Alfred suddenly felt light headed upon recalling that memory. He was rendered speechless for a moment before raising his voice once more. "This can't be a coincidence," he said weakly. Arthur nodded.

"And that's when we ran into _them_."

OoOoOo

"Man, this town sure is empty!" Luffy pointed out, as he dragged his stick through the soil and rubble around him. His voice echoed throughout this depressing scene of broken streets and run down homes. It was certainly more eerie than before.

"No kidding… I thought there'd at least be _some_ people here," Nami stated uneasily.

"To be honest, I thought so too. Maybe the rumors are true after all," Robin agreed.

Sanji glanced around in hopes of finding some movement, or any signs of life, but he too found nothing. "It's a stretch, but maybe this town is just hostile towards pirates and took shelter when they saw our ship. Especially considering how infamous we've become," he suggested.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Nami agreed. Luffy leapt onto the remains of what looked to be a house, overlooking the majority of the barren town. "Hey! Is anyone out there?!" he shouted. Nami and Sanji jolted, anger bubbling in their guts. "You idiot! Like that'll draw anyone out!" Sanji hissed furiously. "And what if these people really are after pirates?! You just gave us away!" Nami added in an equally furious tone. Luffy leapt off the ruins to stand beside with friends once more. "So? If anyone tries to kill us I'll just kick their ass," Luffy retorted calmly. Robin couldn't suppress a giggle at this whole situation.

"Huh? Radimir hears someting strange," a deep, rumbling voice sounded from the distance. The crew instantly fell silent. Sanji peered out from behind the ruined structure and scanned the area that led down the slope. Sure enough, a few paces down the line, stood two people. One was a tall, brute-ish man. He had one good eye, the other sealed and no longer able to see, and absolutely no hair. This man's shoulders hunched upward so high that he appeared to have no neck to speak of. Over his good eye there were a few scars, and stretching over the majority of his head was a long line of stitches. His nose took up practically half his face, and his muscles protruded from his bones so much that it looked rather uncomfortable to even move. He was wearing simple black boots, torn up black shorts and a white tank top splattered with blood. His appearance alone made Sanji uneasy.

However, standing beside him was a little girl. She could only be described as the complete opposite of the man she was walking with. Her figure was small and petite. Sanji guessed that she was somewhere around ten years old. She had pale skin, and warm grey hair which only went down to her jaw-line in length. She had round, dark eyes which were stuck to the ground in a saddened gaze. She wore a black and grey stripped t-shirt with a pair of dark grey pants, and around her neck was a small red choker necklace which almost resembled a collar of some sort.

Nami joined Sanji in his observation, in which he quickly gestured for her to move further back so that they wouldn't be spotted. "There _are_ people here," Nami whispered in shock. "Yea, but that guy doesn't look too inviting if you ask me. Though I gotta wonder why that innocent little girl is with him," Sanji breathed in return.

"Who's out Dere? Radimir hears your voices," the man demanded.

"They're coming this way, no thanks to Luffy. But they're the only people we've found. We have to talk to them. Whatever you do, don't tell them that we're pirates just in case," Nami instructed quietly. Sanji and Robin nodded; however, as if on cue, Luffy waltzed out from their hiding spot plain as day and approached these strangers with a large smile.

"Yo! My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm the man who's gonna be the pirate king!" he introduced fearlessly, not following Nami's instructions at all. Sanji and Nami darted after their captain and scolded him with a swift kick and punch to the head while Robin merely approached calmly.

"YOU DUMBASS!" Nami and Sanji cursed simultaneously as their captain fell to the ground. It was too late now to hide from these strangers, for they were merely a few feet away, staring at the four pirates with blank faces. The rest of the crew locked themselves in eye contact, waiting for this man's response. However, his reaction was unexpected as he simply shrugged his shoulders, brushing off the wanted pirate completely.

"Luffy…? Why have you come here?" he questioned.

Luffy sat up from the ground, rubbing his head in pain. "Well, it's not like we meant to come here," he groaned.

The man raised a bow in suspicion at Luffy, and that's when Nami stepped in to explain. "He's telling the truth! Please hear us out. We were on course to land on Lakretta, and the next thing we knew, we crashed into the shore of this island. I'm not sure how, but it's the truth!" she pleaded desperately. The man nodded. "Radimir understands. You wouldn't be da first," he said.

"Who's Radimir?!" Luffy demanded in confusion. The man pointed a large, grubby finger at himself. "Radimir would be me," he answered. Luffy leapt to his feet again, adjusting his hat. "You sure talk funny, and why's there blood on your shirt?" Luffy blabbered on. Radimir tugged on his own shirt and gazed at the splatters of blood. "Dis? Oh, dis is from Radimir's old wounds," he answered. Sanji and Nami's gut churned uncomfortably. This man did not seem like good news. However, Robin was less focused on the man, and more focused on the little girl with him. She hadn't looked up once since they met, and her eyes glowed in sorrow.

"Is this lovely young lady your daughter?" Robin asked with a gesture toward her.

"No. Dis Kamaria. Radimir been protecting her since she lost her parents," Radimir answered.

The girl jolted, and blushed bashfully as Robin knelt down to her level. "Kamaria. That's a lovely name. And it's very kind of you to watch over her," she giggled with a warm smile. Nami and Sanji looked more at ease at his explanation. "That's so sad! What happened to them?" Nami gasped.

"Dey Disappeared."

Nami's blood turned to ice. Even Robin looked a bit alarmed. With a stomach full of dread, she asked another question. "Disappeared? Did someone take them?"

Radimir nodded slowly. "Da Mist."

A chilling silence took over for a good five seconds before Luffy finally broke it. He had a large smile stretched across his lips, and the brightest twinkle in his eyes as he bellowed out in excitement. "You mean those stories are really real?! That's awesome!" he cheered. However, the looks on his crew's faces were anything but joyous. In fact, one might say they looked downright horrified. Nami took a step forward as Robin slowly rose to her feet once more.

"That's it… We need to leave now! Radimir, was it? How long does it take for the log pose to reset?" Nami asked in a fear-stricken voice.

"Could be hours. Could be days. Only da log pose knows," Radimir replied. His answer was not what Nami wanted to hear.

"You want Radimir's advice, stay on your ship. Dis island is not safe," Radimir added. Nami nodded. "Right, I understand. Thanks for your help!" She turned to face her crew. "Well, you heard him! We'll just wait the log pose out. Let's go back and tell the others."

The four pirates began to move back in the direction from which they came. Radimir waved his goodbyes to them, and Luffy waved back. "Bye weird big-nosed guy!" he called out.

"One more ting! Beware da mist!" Radimir shouted.

"Right! We will! Thanks for the warning!" Luffy retorted, and with that no more words were exchanged. Kamaria and Radimir watched as the pirates slowly disappeared.

"How much do you know about those pirates?" Kamaria finally spoke as she glanced upward at Radimir.

Radimir scratched his head thoughtfully. "Radimir thinks dey da Straw hats. Dey notorious for running amuck, specially da captain dere," Radimir stated.

A smirk stretched across Kamaria's lips, much unlike her depressed face a few minutes earlier. "Straw hat Luffy, huh? We best inform Leader of this one."

OoOoOo

"So we really can't leave?" Usopp whined pitifully as Nami just about wrapped up her story. She glanced down at the log. The rest of the crew took to the news lightly. They were used to this kind of stuff, but still Usopp's anxiety raged on. "Yea. The log pose is our only hope," Nami sighed. Usopp crouched over, clutching at his stomach. "I have a bad feeling about this," he groaned. Sanji, who was in the process of climbing the stairs to the upper deck, scowled back at Usopp. "Have you ever had a good one? It can't be helped, just get to work," he grunted.

"Get to work?" Arthur inquired from where he sat by the same tree with Alfred.

"Well, we can't just sit around and do nothing. A lot of things need to be done, like cooking and cleaning, or even fishing," Sanji explained. Arthur nodded in understanding. "Sounds fair."

"Not to mention the ship needs fixing, poor Sunny hit the shore pretty hard," Franky added. Immediately, Alfred leapt to his feet in excitement. "I can help with that! Just tell me what to do!" he squealed. He glanced down at Arthur, eyes gleaming in excitement. "You should help too!"

Arthur sighed heavily. "Oh, alright," he agreed. And with that he was on his feet, practically being dragged across deck by Alfred. However, Arthur quickly found that fixing the ship was easier said than done.

"YEOWCH!" Arthur screeched loudly as the hammer dropped from his hand. He quickly shoved his now throbbing finger into his mouth to soothe the raging pain, but the remedy did little to nothing to ease it. Franky and Alfred stopped what they were doing and glanced over at Arthur. He's barely been helping for 5 minutes, and already he proved a worthless shipwright.

"Dude, have you even held a hammer before? You kinda suck at this," Alfred asked. Arthur's face twisted in anger at his words. "Of course, you twit! I've been repairing buildings since before you were even born!" he yelped in return. Arthur scooped up the hammer once more in a huff and began working once more, messily hammering the nail into the board, but it wasn't long before he hit his finger again, and the familiar cry of pain echoed across the barren island. "Bloody hell, curse this wretched hammer to hell!" he growled. Franky and Alfred watched him pitifully as Arthur tried to prove himself useful. Before Arthur could pick up the hammer again, Franky approached to inspect his work. The nail was bent over, barely even hammered into the sloppily placed plank of wood.

"Man, that cowlick buddy of yours is right. You're even worse than Usopp," Franky deadpanned, scratching his chin.

"Oh would you piss off!" Arthur hissed furiously.

"Sorry, bud. But we can't have the ship repaired like this. Why don't you go help out somewhere else," Franky suggested.

Arthur looked as if he were about to explode, but quickly simmered down. "I suppose… I apologize for the inconvenience," he sighed. Franky smirked from ear to ear. "Hey, now… don't be like that! I appreciate the offer to help, but you just ain't a shipwright!" he reassured. Arthur smiled weakly before climbing back onboard. He was determined to help somewhere. After all, these guys got them out of a real pinch. It's only fair to return the favor.

Arthur's eyes fixed on the kitchen door. Perhaps he could assist Sanji in his cooking, and maybe learn a few things from him. He made his way up the stairs and into the door, where he was greeted with a menacing glare from Sanji. "Good afternoon, chap! I came to see if you needed any assita- ACK!"

Arthur's sentence was cut short as Sanji's foot met his face rather abruptly, sending him flying into the wall. Arthur sat up, clutching at his now bleeding nose, his bushy eyebrows wrinkled in anger. "And what the bloody hell was that for?!" he screeched.

"How dare you set foot in my kitchen again. You better have a damn good reason," Sanji hissed. Arthur rose to his feet, glancing briefly at the blood that coated his finger tips. "I simply wanted to assist you, no need to be so violent!" he grunted.

"I don't need any assistance, especially from _you_!" Sanji snarled.

Arthur's gut bubbled in annoyance, but he managed to retain a calm exterior. "Can I at least watch you?" he asked with a tone quivering in anger. Again, Sanji kicked Arthur, this time in the chest. "No means no! Now get lost!" Sanji screeched as Arthur was sent flying through the door, knocking it clean off its hinges. Arthur hit his head on the railing, and fell with a painful thud on the Upper deck. He sat up, rubbing at the prominent bump on his head as he winced in pain.

"Ouch, that blasted chef. Why's he always so violent?" Arthur grimaced to himself.

"Are you alright?" Chopper's voice asked out of nowhere. Arthur glanced in the direction of his voice and found the little reindeer peering at him from around the corner. "I just dandy, thanks for asking," Arthur quipped sharply. Chopper frowned in concern at the large pump on his head. "That bump looks pretty bad. Come with me and I'll make it better," he stated. Arthur could help but to put on a smile. Chopper was just too sweet. "Oh, alright," he sighed, rising to his feet and making his way around the back of the kitchen to the infirmary. Once inside, Arthur sat on the bed as Chopper applied an ice pack to his head. "This should reduce the swelling, and let me know if it still hurts, I'll put some ointment on it," Chopper explained before going back to his previous task. Arthur held the bag of ice in place, but moved over toward Chopper with interest peaked.

"What might you be up to?" Arthur inquired. Chopper didn't glance up from his work as he replied. "I'm making some rumble balls. Around this crew, you never know when you'll need to battle, so I need to make plenty so I'm always prepared!"

"Rumble Balls? What might those be?" Arthur asked. "They allow me to use more transformations that usual. It only works with Zoan Type Devil Fruits," Chopper explained as he tossed more herbs into his mixture, and continued to grind them to dust.

The pain in Arthur's head had finally died down, so he placed the ice pack on the table, but continued to watch Chopper. "May I offer any assistance?" he offered. Chopper glanced up at him briefly as he paused in thought. "Actually, yes! Can you reach into my drawer over there and hand me some Moringa Oleifera Leaves? I forgot to pull some out earlier," he responded. Arthur nodded and made his way over toward the cabinet, but paused upon realizing he had no idea which one it was. "Erm, Which one is it?" he asked. Chopper rose from his seat and joined Arthur at the cabinet, reaching up and grabbing a small green stem with little white buds at the end. "It's this one," Chopper stated. Arthur sighed heavily, which caught Chopper's attention. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, really," Arthur said, his voice sounding a bit empty. "I was just hoping I could assist you, but it would seem I don't recognize these herbs."

Chopper merely smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm sure there's somewhere you could help!" he offered hopefully.

"Like where?" Arthur challenged. "I'm no good at ship repairs, your chef won't even let me watch him, and I'm no doctor."

"Well, you don't have to help us with the big jobs! Why don't you clean the deck? It's a smaller job, but it still needs t be done," Chopper insisted. Arthur realized that this might just be the only job he could do, but so long as he could be useful, it was a job worth doing. He smiled down at Chopper. "You always know what to say," he stated.

Arthur spent the remainder of the afternoon scrubbing the deck as clean as he could. The whole time, he listened to Luffy, Brook, and Usopp's constant bickering and playful banters as they fished from the railing on the main deck. Arthur found them quite amusing, especially when Luffy had eaten all of the bait, (which Arthur thought was absolutely repulsive, but funny none the less.) or when one of them would catch a fish and run it over to the aquarium. At one point, Luffy even caught a shark, and while Usopp and Brook were panicking as usual, Luffy seemed to be having a ball. He insisted on putting the shark in the tank, but Usopp quickly reminded him that the shark would eat all the other fish, so they tossed it back. While that was going on, Arthur could also hear Zoro up in the crow's nest, counting away in his workout routine. Not any longer than an hour into his task, Franky and Alfred finished fixing the ship, and then headed up to fix the door that Sanji had mercilessly kicked Arthur through before retreating below deck. Lastly, Nami would pop in and out from her room to make sure her crew was nice and orderly. Occasionally, she would shout at Luffy for being too loud, but otherwise Arthur didn't see much of her.

I wasn't until late afternoon when Arthur finally finished swabbing the outdoor deck. The task had been more tiresome than he expected, for he found himself a bit fatigued as trails of sweat ran down his skin. After storing the mop and bucket once more, he started to head off toward his usual spot by the tree, when he was stopped by Sanji.

"Hey Eyebrows," the chef called out bitterly. Arthur stopped, his glare fixed angrily on the blonde staring back from the kitchen door. "I've told you people a hundred times… my name is _not_ E-"

"Do me a favor and take this drink to Robin in the library. It's toward the back of the ship. You can have one too, you look worn out, but make sure my dear Robin gets hers first, got it? I gotta start on dinner," Sanji interrupted, holding up a tray of marvelous looking green drinks. Arthur's anger dissipated for the time being as he gave in with a sigh. "Oh, alright," he murmured, climbing back up the stairs and taking two drinks from the tray. Arthur made his way around back and up a few flights of steps before reaching the library. Sure enough, Robin was inside. Upon his entrance, she glanced over at him with a smile.

"Oh, hello there Mr. Kirkland," she greeted sweetly. Arthur approached her and set the drink down on the table in front of her.

"Finally, someone who addresses me properly. Here, this beverage is from your cook," he stated before taking a gander around the room. Robin took a sip from her drink before looking back at Arthur. "Thank you," she nodded. It was dreadfully quiet for a good few minutes as Arthur took a look around at all the books. There had to be more books here than he'd ever seen on a pirate ship in his life. "There sure are a lot of books here. Do you like to spend your time in the library?" Arthur asked, taking a seat across from Robin.

"Yes," Robin answered. "You learn a lot about our history through reading."

Arthur merely nodded in agreement, but remained quiet. Another long silent took over. Robin had long since returned to reading her book, but would occasionally glance up at Arthur. Arthur, on the other hand, was just happy to have a cool, quiet place to sit for the time being.

"Are you curious?" Robin asked randomly. Arthur furrowed his brow. "About?" he urged.

"This island," Robin clarified. Arthur hesitated for a brief moment. "I am a tad curious, but I'm more frightened than anything," he finally admitted.

"I can see why. These tales are nothing to scoff at. However, this island could hold your answers as well," Robin continued, turning the page in her book.

"And if it doesn't? What if this island sends all of us to yet another dimension?" Arthur challenged.

"It's a possibility," Robin stated simply. "To be honest, in all my life, I'd never heard of such a phenomenon as this, so I can't say for certain what will happen. Does this happen a lot in your world?"

Arthur sighed heavily. "No, not usually," he answered.

"When we went into town, there was absolutely no one except for the two we met." Robin explained. "Yes, you told us this earlier when you returned. They told you it wasn't safe on the island and that you needed to stay on the ship," Arthur added.

"That's not all," Robin interjected. Arthur raised his brows in interest. "Radimir told us that the mist took Kamaria's parents away. I'm not entirely sure what that means though," Robin explained.

"That's the part that's been bugging me," Arthur admitted. He leaned back in his chair, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "These legends speak of a mist that takes people away, and now we have this. When Al and I appeared into this world, we were enveloped in a thick smoke, but looking back now, it may have this mysterious mist."

"You were?" Robin gasped. Arthur nodded. "One moment, we were standing in the meeting hall, surrounded by our fellow nations, and the next we were standing amidst a battlefield," he sighed.

"That's interesting.." Robin stated. Things fell silent once more, but for a brief moment before Arthur spoke up one last time. "Perhaps going to the island won't be such a bad idea."

It wasn't long before the two were called away for another rambunctious dinner with the crew. The feast lasted until sundown, and that's when everything finally started to calm down. Arthur found a violin in the men's quarters, and decided to brush up on his skills with the beautiful instrument as he perched himself on the railing of the bow. Arthur played a tune he'd learned from this world, a song named 'Ocean's Guide.' With the sky painted vibrantly warm colors, and half the crew already falling asleep on deck, Arthur felt it appropriate. The thick vibrato of the strings filled the air, and though Arthur hadn't picked up the instrument in decades, the sound wasn't half bad.

"You play extraordinarily well, Mr. Arthur. I didn't know you knew how to play a violin," Brook's voice spoke up out of thin air. Arthur jolted, having not picked up on his sudden presence. "Oh, it's just you, Brook," he smiled pleasantly. Brook took a sip from his tea and leaned on the railing next to Arthur. "It's rare that I find someone who can actually play my violin," he laughed. Arthur winced, pausing in his music briefly. "Oh, this was yours? Pardon me, I had no idea," he apologized quickly. However, Brook was quick to laugh it off. "I do not mind, please… keep playing." And with that, Arthur went back to the soothing tune.

"Ocean's Guide… If my ears do not deceive me, this is a marine tune. I still enjoy the song despite that," Brook stated.

"That wouldn't surprise me," Arthur responded. "I did learn this song from a marine gentleman after all."

Brook glanced over at Arthur, empty eye sockets somehow gleaming in interest. "Oh? Is that so?" he inquired. Arthur nodded.

"When Alfred and I landed here, we ended up in the middle of a battlefield and somehow got sucked into the fight. That was when an admiral showed up and saved our skins. He was covered in scars from a different battle, but he was the first person who believed our story, and the only one up until we met Luffy. He gave us a basic run-down of this world, and gave us one piece of advice. 'Let the ocean be your guide,' and walked off humming this tune."

"An admiral, huh? Do you remember his name?" Brook asked.

"It was Kuzen, I believe. If he hadn't been there on that day, Al and I would no longer be around. I am thankful to him," Arthur sighed with a pleasant smile. Brook let out a small laugh. "Isn't it funny how fate works? One small thing can change the entire course of your life as you knew it," he uttered. Arthur knew he was talking about Luffy, and not just because he'd recued Arthur. Looking around, Arthur could easily tell that this captain has affected his entire crew in order to gain their love a respect like they do now. This captain, now in a deep sleep on the head of the Sunny, had affected their fate in some way for the better, just like he had done for Alfred and Arthur.

Arthur jolted suddenly upon realizing that he finally understood this crew.

OoOoOo

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Nami wondered nervously. It was another foggy morning, and already the crew was up and ready for another boring day of sitting on the shores on this island in wait for the log pose to reset. However, Arthur and Alfred had made the decision to go to island alone to get some answers.

"Yes, No one knows we are traveling with you, and we are lesser known pirates. Maybe more citizens will come out for us," Arthur responded.

"Well, that's true, but it could be dangerous," Nami added.

"Hey, don't worry!" Alfred bellowed with a toothy smile. "We can hold our own! I promise everything will be alright."

Nami sighed and nodded, and with that both men leapt off the ship. "Good Luck!" Chopper called out.

The journey into the island was quiet and uneasy. Walking into town, the two could easily believe these rumors. And much to their surprise, the entire town was completely empty, just like Robin and the others had said.

"Dude, this place is creepy," Alfred groaned.

"Tell me about it…" Arthur grunted in agreement. He took a few steps forward, cupping his hands around his mouth to elevate his voice. "Hey! Is anyone here? Please come out, we need help!" he shouted. However, Arthur's voice merely echoed across the ghost town with no response, not even Radimir.

"That's odd, I'm certain Robin stated there were two people here. Yet, I don't even see one," Arthur wavered. Alfred clung to his pal's arm in distress. "What if that story really is true?! We better go back," he stammered. Arthur pulled his arm free from Alfred's grasp and kept pressing onward. "No, not yet. I'm not leaving without speaking to someone," he declared. Alfred remained frozen in place as his friend moved on. He glanced back toward the ship in worry, then toward Arthur. Though he had a bad feeling about this place, he decided it was best to follow his friend.

The two continued their journey silently walking side by side. As they moved further into the island, the mist gradually grew thicker until it was difficult to see their surroundings. Alfred's stomach churned dreadfully at the sight of the mist, and had remained quiet about it for most of the journey, but now enough was enough. Alfred turned his head and drew in a breath to speak up, but froze dead in his tracks. No one was beside him. Alfred began to tremble. Had he just gotten separated from him? Or was this the worst case scenario? He could have sworn that Arthur had been right beside him, no more than a few inches from his own body. Alfred spun around frantically, but was unable to see anything but fog.

"A-Arthur?" Alfred croaked nervously. His blood became ice when there was no response. He placed his hand cautiously on his shotgun. "C'mon, Artie, this ain't funny!" he wavered fearfully.

"Shh! Keep quiet!" Arthur's familiar voice hissed quietly from a short distance away. All the tension in Alfred's body dissipated instantly upon hearing the familiar voice of his friend, not taking into consideration what he had actually said. Alfred began walking toward the voice. "Man, you scared me, don't ever do that ag-"

"Shut your trap, you twit! There's something out there!" Arthur hissed again, this time more sharply than before. Alfred froze in place. He could just barely make out Arthur's hunched figure a few feet in front of him. It was then his ears barely caught the sound of something shuffling in the underbrush. However, like he was instructed, Alfred remained silent and still. Sure enough, the scuffling receded in time.

"What was that?" Alfred breathed cautiously. Arthur straightened his posture once more and began walking back toward Alfred. "Hopefully, a harmless woodland creature. C'mon, let's head back toward the ship. I doubt we'll find anything more with this thick fog," Arthur suggested. Alfred breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

"Sounds like a pl-"

Alfred's sentence was cut short as a sharp, sudden pain dug into his shoulder, and a new weight sent him crashing roughly to the ground.

OoOoOo

The crew couldn't see anything past the fog. Though it had only been a few minutes since Alfred and Arthur left, the feeling of worry had not let up.

"I hope they come back," Chopper whimpered, not breaking his stare from the spooky island.

From the second deck, Chopper could hear Sanji scoff. "I don't see why it matters. It's not like they're a part of our crew," he growled. "Don't say that, Sanji!" Chopper wailed. "Even though they aren't a part of our crew, they still need our help. They've hit rock bottom just like the rest of us have at some point." Sanji had no more words of objection.

"Don't worry, Chopper. If they leave, I'll get them back again. I already promised them I would help," Luffy intruded. Chopper glanced upward at his captain, perched on the rail beside him, before looking back out toward the island in fret.

"Not that I'm against helping them," Nami began as she took a few steps toward Luffy. "But we don't even know _how_ to help them. I've never even heard of crossing dimensions before. Something as crazy as this is just impossible!"

"So was Sky Island, remember?" Luffy countered. Nami paused upon recalling that memory from two years before. She remembered finding the map of Sky Island, and being mocked by the townsfolk for trying to find it. She remembered the shame she felt and the humiliation she endured only to discover that Skypiea actually existed. That shame and humiliation must have been what Arthur and Alfred experienced this whole time, to know of a place you can't prove is real and be mocked for trying to find it.

"If we can find Sky Island, we can find Earth too," Zoro stated randomly. All attention was on him now. "Just as that gold was proof of Skypiea's existence, these men are proof that Earth is real too. I may not have seen their world with my own eyes, but I know enough to recognize when a man is lying and when he isn't."

"I dunno, I'm with Nami on this one," Franky confessed uncertainly. "We don't even know where to begin finding these answers."

All of a sudden, a faint cry from the island broke their conversation, drawing all eyes out to the foggy shore.

"That sounded like Alfred!" Chopper gasped.

"Hey! Cowlick-guy! Was that you?!" Luffy shouted. The scream sounded again, this time much closer and clearer than before; however, the entire crew froze upon seeing the beaten, limping figure heading toward the ship. It was most definitely Alfred, but the poor guy looked as if he'd lost a fight with a bear. His clothes were ripped and bloody, his skin covered in a multitude of scratches and bruises. The most alarming of his wounds seemed to be on his left shoulder, where a massive bloodstain covered nearly half his torn shirt. Usopp darted up to the rail to see for himself as Alfred collapsed to his knees at the shoreline, gripping is bleeding arm in pain. "You're all beat up! What on earth happened to you?!" he gasped.

"We were attacked… by a strange animal!" Alfred panted heavily. Alfred paused to catch his breath with heavy gulps for air. "It was all happening too fast. I could keep up before I even knew what was happening before it was all over!" His voice itself trembled in shock.

"Hold on, I'll get you up here, don't strain yourself anymore!" Luffy blurted, stretching his arm down and flinging Alfred's beaten body onto the deck. Upon impact, Alfred winced, and rolled on his side, sahking like an earthquake. "Luffy! You're being too rough! He's badly hurt!" Chopper scolded as he bolted to Alfred's side. He immediately went to work unbuttoning Alfred's shirt and vest to reveal his bare chest, now mauled with scratches. However, it wasn't the scratches that had Chopper horrified. Traveling down from Alfred's shoulder nearly 8 inches down on both sides was a deep bite wound.

"What the hell?! What kind of animal bit you?!" Chopper exclaimed.

"I don't know, I didn't get a chance to see it… the damn thing was moving so fast… It was a little smaller than a dog though, I think," Alfred gulped.

"No normal animal that size could have made this mark. It would have to have a rubber jaw!" Chopper wavered.

"Hey, you have to explain exactly what happened out there!" Usopp demanded.

Alfred's shaking wasn't letting up, and as the seconds passed, his breathing became more erratic. His once joyous blue eyes were clouded with fear. "We were just walking along, when the mist suddenly became thick, I told Artie that we should turn back, but before I knew it, I couldn't even see him anymore. That was when I was attacked. The creature pinned me to the ground, it was surprisingly strong. I tried to swipe my fist at it, but it was gone in a flash. I jumped to my feet and tried to run, but that was when it bit my shoulder. I tried to fight back, but it clawed at me, and tried to bite me again. And then all of a sudden, it just ran away and disappeared right as the mist was starting to lift. And then…. then… _oh, God_…"

Alfred's voice became hoarser and hoarser as his story progressed until the entire crew was certain he was crying. Alfred buried his face into his knees and exhaled a long, shaking breath. It was then, Franky asked the dreaded question.

"So, where's your eyebrow buddy? Wasn't he with you?"

Alfred glanced up with tears clinging to the bottom of his eye lid. He bit his lower lip to suppress the urge to cry, by it had little effect on him as he uttered the words no one wanted to hear.

"_Arthur disappeared."_


End file.
